I have nothing to compare it to! haha. I can hear the water falling but other than that it's pretty quiet. Remember to teflon the threads! It's not in the instructions and it caused me many headaches. Get the 700 if you plan to get a mag 3. Whatever they do to make it quiet lowers how much it can take. I got the 300 nano thinking it would be enough, after overhead and stuff, it is if I close the air hole (but then it's loud as hell) but with the air hole open I have to throttle down my pump with a ball valve. If you want I'll trade you my new mag 3 (fresh water leak testing only) for a new mag 2, straight up.